Questions & Answers about क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोलती हैं?
What does क्या mean at the beginning of the sentence?
At the beginning of a yes/no question, क्या works like a question marker. It does not usually translate to a single English word like what in this position.
So in क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोलती हैं?, क्या signals that the whole sentence is a question: Do you speak English?
A useful thing to know:
- क्या at the start = yes/no question marker
- क्या by itself in other contexts can also mean what
For example:
- क्या आप हिंदी जानते हैं? = Do you know Hindi?
- यह क्या है? = What is this?
Why is आप used here instead of तुम or तू?
आप is the polite/formal way to say you in Hindi. It is the safest choice when speaking to:
- strangers
- elders
- people you want to be respectful toward
- someone in a formal situation
The other options are:
- तुम = informal, but still common and friendly
- तू = very intimate or very rude depending on context
So क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोलती हैं? is the polite version.
Compare:
- क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोलती हैं? = polite
- क्या तुम अंग्रेज़ी बोलती हो? = informal
- क्या तू अंग्रेज़ी बोलती है? = very intimate / possibly rude